Getting the Kids Involved

It’s all getting a bit quiet in the Lush apiary. But of course there’s still work to be done. Not least the extraction of honey! That’s what it’s all about, right! Well for some (most) beekeepers it really is. I’m coming more and more to realise that the honey prize just isn’t so important to me. Sure I want to chase that jar of liquid gold, but more so I just want the bees in my hives to survive. And thrive.

The first and the best – my Green Queen

So I’ve been thinking and reading more and more about natural beekeeping, as opposed to conventional beekeeping. Natural beekeeping is more bee-centred than conventional and, while much of the practice is the same, there are some strong elements that allow the bees to do most of the work by themselves and for themselves, without much intervention or manipulation by we humans. I’m learning, but it may be the way forward. Not sure what Mr Lush is going to think about not harvesting honey, though. I may end up with a section of conventional hives, and a small area of more bee-centred practice just to see what works.

Of the five hives that I have now, one is most certainly queenless. I’ve tried introducing two frames of eggs now but there’s no sign of a hatched queen. That’s not to say she’s not there, but I’m not reckoning on it. Next step for that one is deciding what to do about it before the season ends, which is in about a month.

The second anomaly is my beautiful green queen. The first and the original. She’s still in the poly nuc and doing really well. The remaining three are just wonderful – full, thriving and with lots of eggs. My worry had been that they weren’t clipped, but last week we managed to get two of them pinned down. Sadly it wasn’t me who clipped them, but at least it’s done now. There’s no getting away now!

But by far the most exciting development is the rise of my new assistant! Yes, Izzy’s decided she wants to get involved and since we got her a beesuit she’s been coming to club with me (they just love getting the kids involved).

This weekend I introduced her to my own bees. She hasn’t been stung yet so things could change, but as it stands, we have ourselves a little apiarist!